Waifu Wednesday: Misa Amane (Death Note)
Fun fact for everyone – not every top-tier waifu is a good person. In fact, sometimes villains make the best characters, as evidenced by the Internet’s continued obsession with Misa Amane more than a decade after the Death Note manga wrapped up and the anime went off the air. She is among the most complex and enduring characters in the anime community, and is well-loved for good reason.
This week’s Waifu Wednesday sees us taking a walk on the darker side and taking a look at the unhinged mess that is Misa Amane.
Who is Misa Amene?
When Kira started killing all the world’s criminals, there were plenty of people who agreed with what they were doing. When the man who killed Misa Amane’s parents was killed by this mysterious figure, the young model and actress dropped everything to dedicate her life to helping Kira. Whereas most people could only cheer for Kira in their own way, Misa could be a more active participant in the cleansing of the world. See, she had a Death Note of her own, given to her when a Shinigami gave his life to save hers.
Using this Death Note, Misa Amane set out to find the true Kira, a young man named Light, and become his girlfriend, creating one of the most toxic relationships in anime. Light doesn’t have any real interest in Misa beyond how she is useful to his schemes, finding her annoying in the way she clings to him but being unable to simply toss her aside. However, Misa is totally and completely dedicated to Light in a way that isn’t healthy but remains fascinating to watch.
Why we love her
Misa often gets compared to DC Comics’ Harley Quinn because of her terrible relationship choices and twisted view of romance, but there is a little more to her than being a mere sidekick. While she is never completely free from Light’s influence, there is a sense of darkness beneath her that many people in the series pick up on. She has been around death throughout her life and has been left to deal with that pain on her own. Even Light comments that she is not a good person; she is likely someone who would have abused the Death Note for her own purposes without his influence.
In almost every appearance in the manga, Misa Amane is the spanner in the works of Light’s machinations. She is chaotic and impulsive, unwilling to take no for an answer when it is something she wants. In many ways, she is more dangerous than her boyfriend. She is less clever and more willing to kill to suit her needs, living unrestrained by the admittedly twisted moral code that guides Light.
Why you’ll love her
Everyone in Death Note exists to showcase a moral dilemma for the reader, but none feel quite as tricky to get a grip on as Misa Amane. It is easy to feel sorry for her because she is clearly being manipulated and used, but she also does her fair share of manipulating throughout the series.
She is the one who seeks out Kira, and it is she who threatens to expose him if she doesn’t get to play the role of his boyfriend. From the moment she is introduced, Misa is an unhinged mess but she is always deeply interesting to watch. It takes a special kind of person to make not one but two death gods fall in love with them, after all.
Not caught Death Note before? It remains a popular anime despite the years since its first release, though streaming it will depend on where you live. American Netflix still has the rights to the show but UK residents will find that it recently left the service and hasn’t been picked up by anyone else yet. Just don’t be tempted to try the universally panned and reviled live-action Netflix movie.
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